A Cursed Reef: Maple's Story
by Loafbud
Summary: Maple was a very special female Inkling. However, she was looked down upon with a negative light. Motives and the constant neglect she received had driven her into becoming one of the most well-known homicidal Inklings. Little did they know what the legendary bloodthirsty Inkling went through. Now her story has been unveiled.


All she could hear was a heartbeat, its awe-inspiring rhythm beating into an eerie cadence that she thought would last forever. The orange-headed female Inkling's long tentacles swayed, shock unbalancing her. She stared down at a female Octoling who was lying on her back on the rough ground of Urchin Underpass. The female Octoling had her goggles off and revealed beautiful purple eyes that stared so deep into the Inkling's eyes that she could feel her own stomach churning up with melancholy.

"Maple…" breathed the Octoling before spluttering into a cough that shook her entire body. "You won't tell your kind about us, would you?"

Maple the Inkling flinched and widened her naturally contracted eyes. "What, are you _crazy_?" she quailed. "Why would I expose our friendship to the public like that?" It was considered "unlawful" for Inklings and Octolings to physically and mentally intermingle with one another, let alone with any Octarians. Although Octolings and Inklings were natural allies before the Great Turf War countless years ago, squids and octopi were known bitter enemies over time. Khari was a true friend to Maple and she couldn't think of anyone else that'll paramount her. Yeah, sure, Khari was an Octoling rumored to have terrible deets amongst their population, but Maple seemed like the only Inkling that truly understood her inner feelings. Khari's parents were brutally murdered during a drastic Turf War—and it wasn't any every day sprog of a Turf War. Her parents were found straying near the borderlines of Inkling territory and squid knows what on earth they were doing out here so far away from their homeland. Maple felt as though she was sent to Khari's side as her guardian. She was to stay at her side at all costs.

And now this Octoling was dying—dying of hunger.

Maple's belly weighed down with grief. "Khari…!" She failed as a friend altogether. She failed at being the guardian of Khari that she was supposed to be. All Maple wanted to do was transform into a squid and hide in ink, concealing herself away from the world.

Khari's breathing quickened for only a second until it went sickly slow once more. She seemed as though she were trying to say something. Then those words had come out from her parched lips:

"You were the greatest Inkling I've ever known," she rasped, a pause coming after every few words. "You cared for me as though you were my parents all together as one soul. You helped me bring back my motivation to live, to love, to spring back up to my feet."

"But now…" The words choked up in Maple's throat.

"Stop blaming yourself for this," breathed the Octoling. "Stop blaming yourself for everything. Just do me a favor and stop blaming yourself over the little things in life…"

Maple reached out a hand to rest on Khari's shoulder. "But you're more than just 'the little things in life'!" she protested.

A fractured, scrawny chuckle slipped out of Khari's lips. "Heheh… I'm just an Octoling." There was a weak hint of amusement in her tone, but Maple found it hard to see it in a humorous light. By the mere second, Khari's breathing was growing slower and slower.

… _just an Octoling_ , Khari's presumably last words rung in Maple's ear. The Inkling opened her mouth to say protest her friend's comment, but it was too late. Eyes welling up with salty tears, Maple fell to her knees and threw herself at her motionless friend into a tight hug. Her shoulders shuddered severely in a muffled wail, her face buried in the curves of Khari's neck. It seemed like countless hours had passed until Maple had ceased that disconcerting wailing of hers. _Goodbye, Khari…_

There was little to no vegetation in Urchin Underpass besides a few trees and patches of grass. There was one patch of grass large enough to bury her dead friend nearby. Grief froze Maple into place. She felt sick at the fact of burying Khari in a common area for everyday four-on-four Turf Wars.

The sound of quick footsteps approached Maple and Khari's body from behind. She spun around in fear and spotted Dodger, a blue-headed male Inkling. He wore a gray sweatshirt and a blue visor over his head. Luckily, he was unarmed, to Maple's relief. As he approached in range, his eyes locked on Khari's body and he sneered.

"What is an _Octoling_ doing here, sleeping on our turf?" growled Dodger, baring his sharp teeth.

Maple flinched and she shot up to her feet, turning at Dodger. "She's not—!" She stopped herself in time from revealing to him that she was dead. She added more evenly, "I found her fast asleep here during my evening patrol." She silently prayed that Dodger would buy her forged incorruptibility.

Dodger narrowed his eyes at her, as if he didn't believe her. The male Inkling stepped up and hunkered down to poke Khari's pale cheeks several times. Maple held back a threatening hiss. He flashed her a look that sent chills down Maple's spine—even though squids didn't have bones.

"Ink her," he said sharply.

"What?" Maple gasped, her eyes sparking with shock. Surely he didn't mean what she thought he meant?

But Dodger's eyes were as hard as stone and so was his tone. "Ink her," he repeated coldly. "She'll wake up at any moment."

Fury scorched through Maple's dark orange eyes. "But she's innocent!" she snarled.

"Why are you so defensive for the brute all of a sudden?" snapped Dodger. _Brute?_ Maple felt like biting the cruel Inkling in the face.

Maple wish she hadn't spoken. She stood up and looked down at her friend's body. Could Dodger really be serious about this? He was a headstrong Inkling but surely he _really_ didn't mean those hurtful things. _If only he knew what a true friend Khari was…_

Dodger stood up abruptly and threw his hands at the hips of Maple, roughly touching her with his coarse hands.

"Stop it!" squeaked Maple in utter shock.

After a few seconds, Dodger had drew his hands away from Maple and had an Aerospray MG grasped firmly in his stiff hands. He had just pulled out Maple's weapon from her satchel. He examined the weapon's platinum hide approvingly, its silver touch glinting dimly beneath the orange afternoon light. Taking a few steps back, he closed one eye and aimed the Aerospray MG at Khari's lifeless body.

"Stop!" wailed Maple, stepping in Dodger's way.

Dodger widened his eyes in shock and lowered the Aerospray MG; he looked at her as if she had two heads. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he gasped.

Maple froze in place and dropped her contracted eyes on her feet. She felt the atmosphere tense up around them and even electrify in between the both of them. She glanced back at Khari's body. She was not going to let Dodger splat her friend like this, even when she's dead. Frantic thoughts whirled into her mind like a hurricane on a coastline. She could feel Dodger's eyes snarling deep inside her mind as if he was trying to read it. _What do I do, what do I do…_

A sickening weight struck her like a savage zapfish. There was no way in Hell that she was going to let Dodger destroy her body like this. The thought still clung into her mind like dew on a cobweb. As much as she wanted to refuse doing so, it was the only way to get this over with.

" _I'll_ do it," offered Maple, her voice catching in her throat with emotion. _Why the heck am I doing this? Khari, please forgive me…_

Dodger blinked and looked at her as if he had never seen her before. "You'll get rid of that Octoling?" he said in surprise. When Maple nodded solemnly, the male Inkling loomed towards her and handed over her Aerospray MG. "Y'finally got some sense knocked into you," he said with a wiry smirk twisted on his face.

Without hesitation, although it clawed into her like acid on an open wound, Maple took a few paces back and unhurriedly readied her weapon. She spotted her reflection in the Aerospray MG's shiny pelt. Her face was dark against the reflected afternoon sky. _I'm such a monster._ Never did she wanted to look at herself again after this incident.

Adjusting her Aerospray MG to where she couldn't see her reflection, she angled its glinting nose towards her dearest friend. The Octoling's eyes were closed and she looked relaxed; her lips and entire face looked as if they weren't parched and pale anymore. It really _did_ looked like she was fast asleep.

"Go on, Maple, shoot her!" complained Dodger with impatience.

Maple closed her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip until it bled. Space and time engulfed around them in eerie silence. She was frozen by utter distress and Dodger's cold eyes bearing down into her back like a dagger.

That was then when she pulled the trigger.

Splat, splat, splat the Aerospray MG went in its rapid, proud blasts.

Maple closed her eyes tighter and tighter until she could see a faint white glow. She wanted to wail her lungs out into the air. She wanted to run away from the happenings that occurred around her. She wanted to…

 _Sploosssshhh!_

Warm liquid spattered on Maple's body like a burst of warm ink. Most of it got on her face. She opened her eyes in narrow slits to see the scene in no surprise. Her mouth gaped in a soundless wail.

Khari's entire body was splattered into a pool of her own purple ink instead of Maple's ink color. Her friend was now no more than a puddle of liquid. The Octoling's armor and goggles were a few paces away from Maple due to the potency of Khari's body explosion.

"Don't worry, the ink will dry up and vanish over time," reminded Dodger coolly.

Dodger's words were no more than a finger tap beneath the overwhelming emotion that welled up inside of Maple. Cherished memories of her and Khari resonated soberly through her mind. She remembered the time when they both pranked an Octosniper with a phone call. She also remembered the time when Khari gave Maple a plush toy Zapfish as a gift.

" _Never forget this Zapfish,"_ rung the words of Khari in her ear. _"For it will forge the strength of our friendship. Remember this: Friendship has no boundaries. If our kind were to fight one another, I'd only fight for our friendship."_

Maple stared down at what was left of her friend. The purple puddle had seemed to already have decreased in size. Soon, the Octoling's armor would vanish along with the ink. Maple had to keep telling herself that this was better than having to bury her friend in the turf, where countless Inklings would have already had blindly stepped on her grave during a Turf War. This way, her remains would only dissolve in mere hours without leaving a single trace of her whereabouts.

When Maple turned around, Dodger was already gone. Maple had placed her Aerospray MG back in her satchel. The Inkling looked down at the nearest, small purple puddle of ink. Her reflection stared emptily back at her once more. _You're nothing but a monster_ , she read the thoughts of her reflection. Maple regretfully focused every bit of her facial expression in her friend's ink: Maple's contracted dark orange eyes, the abnormal dark splotches on head, the gradients of yellow, orange, red, and brown that formed the colors of her hair-like tentacles, the extra black nicks that formed below her eyes on the black mask on her face. The image of the monster's face had already burned inside her mind like fire. She no longer knew who that face belonged to. Whatever it was, she wanted to forget it immediately.

* * *

 **...was eating a banana while typing this so sorry if it sounds fruity! :P Oh, me and my pathetic puns! But poor Maple, having to destroy her friend's body like that... What an Octoling was doing so far away from her homeland in the first place will be revealed later on in the story. Until then, stay tuned! ^^**

 **Also, in-game, I've collected all Sunken Scrolls so during the fanfic I'll refer to the past of the "Great Turf War" occasionally :)**


End file.
